


Grab the Rope

by tearoseglasses



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: for fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:42:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29603322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tearoseglasses/pseuds/tearoseglasses
Summary: Farmer offers Shane an out of Joja.TW for mentions of substance abuse and implied actions of self-harm
Kudos: 7





	Grab the Rope

Shane opens his eyes, squinting at the small light across the room from him. His head pounds as he rolls over, tucking his head away from the light. 

“I saw your eyes open, Shane.”

He mumbles in response.

“Come on,” A hand rest on his shoulder over the quilt, “Harvey said when you wake up, I need to get you up get you up. It’s 9 am. Curtains are just closed to save your head.”

Shane rolls back over, squinting at the source of the voice, “Ore…?”

“Morning, pizza boy, bad night?”

“Not funny.”

“You wanna talk?”

“No.”

“Fine. Stay awake, I’m going to make a mess of a breakfast that’ll help you feel better.” He turns, walking back over to the light, moving it over to the stove. Shane closes his eyes, pulling the quilt up and over his head. 

“If you can’t stay awake, I’ll take the quilt off.” Ore pulls eggs and day-old hashbrowns out, setting them on the counter. Shane pulls the quilt off a bit, revealing his face. 

“Why am I here?”

“I was out late, Marnie mentioned an issue with slimes antagonizing her cows, instead I found you. In a. Puddle of beer. Took you up to Harvey. He looked you over and decided you just needed to rest up. I didn’t want to wake up Jas and Marnie so. Brought you here. Rest is history.” He drops the hashbrowns in a skillet. 

“You have two beds?”

“No. You’re in the only one, I took the floor with Mum.”

“... Your mom?”

“No, Mum the cat.” Ore cracks three eggs into the center of the hashbrowns and pulls a jar out of one of the cupboards, cracking the seal. 

“Why that name?”

“She acts like a mom. Screams at me to wake up and go to bed. Screams at me if I even seem like I’m going to forget to water the crops. And babies the chickens.” 

Shane looks over the edge of the bed, finding a grey and orange cat still sleeping in the hood part of a mummy sleeping bag, looking as content as a cat could be. 

“Here. The breakfast my gramps would make me when I felt like complete and utter shit. But with extra spicy salsa made just for you.” Ore holds a plate out as Shane sits up, keeping the quilt wrapped around his shoulders. 

“Thank you.”

“Yeah. Coffee?”

“Please.”

“Sugar? I don’t have any milk.”

“Black.”

“Hm.” Ore nods and walks back over, starting to work on the coffee machine.

“What?”

“Nothing. I hope you like it. Fresh as it gets.”

“You grow coffee beans?”

“Yeah. It’s lighter, I don’t like sour coffee.”

“Hm.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Haha, very funny.” He shuts the top of the machine and flips a switch. Within a minute the coffee starts dripping down into the pot. Mum crawls out of the sleeping bag, giving Shane a look before trotting over to Ore. Ore looks down at her, “Good morning, Mum.”

Mum trills in response, stretching. 

“Breakfast?”

Ore gets a demanding meow from her, confirming the want. He pulls a can of wet food and a plate out, popping the can open, and dropping the food on it. He sets it on the ground and looks back up at the coffee machine as it beeps. 

“How’d you get her?”

“Marnie found her and brought her up here the third week after I moved here.” He brings over two mugs of coffee, handing one to Shane before sitting down on the sleeping bag, sipping the coffee. 

“You’ve been here about a year now, right?”

“Yep.”

“Why’d you come here?”

“I have a high school diploma and only that. College didn’t agree with me but life is life and Joja pulled me under. I started working there at 19. I’m 27. When my grandfather died when I was 16, he gave me the deed to this farm in a sealed letter and told me that one day I might need it. I quit the day I opened the letter. Here I am.”

“College didn’t agree? You’re at the library every time it rains.”

Ore laughs a bit, “You drink, I did… Other things. For a long time. I chickened out of college. But nothing really stopped. Last year was my breaking point.”

“Oh.”

“Oh?”

“You seem fine.”

“Hm, a lot of people do. I know what you’re going through, I was there before I got here. And. If you’d want you could… quit Joja and come work for me? Ish.” 

“What?”

“I know that place is absolute shit and going down the drain, whatever they’re paying, I’ll match. You’ll still be able to rent from Marnie.”

“You’re offering me a job?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Wasn’t clear from my tragic backstory?”

“ _ Why _ .”

“Do you want it or not?”

“What do you need help with?”

“Chickens like Mum but hate me. Jas told me you’re good with them.”

“When?”

“I brought a melon over last summer.”

“That was almost a year ago.”

“So?”

“You can’t pay me a wage for a job a 10-year-old babysitter could do.”

“Can and will.”

“But-”

“You need an out of that hellhole. Grab the rope.”

**Author's Note:**

> the egg thing is actually what my grandpa makes me. tator tots broken up with eggs, cooked all together with salsa. Very good comfort food.


End file.
